Milk crate



Patented Sept. 2 9, 1936 PATENT OFFICE MILK CRATE John A. Hopwood, Great Neck, N. Y.

Application March 6, 1936, Serial No. 67,450

10 Claims.

This invention is a milk crate and relates more particularly to wooden milk crates comprising four walls which may, in practice, be made of superimposed slats to form a rectangular frame, the interior of which is divided longitudinally and transversely by partitions into compartments adapted to individually contain bottles of milk for delivery.

The invention is particularly directed to that type of box wherein the partitions which run in one direction are in the form of wooden bars cut out to substantially conform to the bottles, to support the latter in spaced relation to one another and which bars are strengthened and supported by transverse wire rods which extend across the crate in the other direction and through the bars.

The wooden bars used in boxes of this kind are generally spaced above one another and run longitudinally of the crate. The upper bars are provided with arcuate recesses which conform to the bottles while the lower bars have similar arcuate recesses provided at their bottoms with supporting shelves on which the bottles rest. These bars are generally made of poplar or some other relatively soft and light wood and depend largely for their support upon attachment of their ends to the opposite end walls of the crate and upon such support as is provided by the wire rods which extend transversely through them.

My experience has shown that, in boxes of the character described, the wooden partition bars are frequently broken under hard usage. They are required not only to take the impact of bottles and support the weight of a dozen quarts of milk, but, when the boxes are handled by employees, they are knocked about in a careless manner and not infrequently one crate is thrown into another in a way to drive a corner of the former crate forcibly against one or more of the wooden bars of the latter with the result that such bars are broken. Furthermore, in piling crates, the bottom bar of a superimposed crate is not infrequently struck against the edge of an underlying crate and broken.

With the foregoing considerations in mind, the object of the present invention is to properly strengthen and reinforce the wooden partition bars in a simple and economical manner and in such a way that, when shocks are imposed upon one or more of these bars, the impact, instead of being localized, as has heretofore been the case, will be distributed throughout the entire structure in such manner as to preclude breakage which would ordinarily occur in a box devoid of this invention.

A further object of the invention is to accomplish this result without materially increasing the cost of the structure and without adding noticeable weight, which is important.

In its preferred practical form, the invention is carried out by incorporating in a box of the character described a series of struts which are interposed between the upper and lower partition bars, preferably in the region of the transverse wire rods. These struts are seated at their upper and lower ends in seats formed in the partition bars and, if desired, they may be extended and apertured, so that the partition rods may extend therethrough. In either case, the struts tie the upper and lower partition bars together in such a way that shocks received by either of them are distributed throughout the entire structure, which, because of the presence of the struts, is materially strengthened and reinforced.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description and claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The accompanying drawing illustrates different x' practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions therein shown are to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a fragmental perspective view showing a milk delivery crate embodying the present invention in its preferred practical form.

Figure 2 is a fragmental section showing a modified form of construction.

The crate shown in the accompanying drawing is conventional to a large extent. That is to say, it comprises a box body having four walls composed of superimposed slats, I, secured together at the corners of the crate in any appropriate way to form the rectangular body. Extending longitudinally across the interior of the box are upper wooden partitions 2 and lower wooden partitions 3, the partitions 3 being directly below the partitions 2 and spaced therefrom. All of these partitions are anchored at their opposite ends to the opposite ends of the crate. The upper partitions are provided with longitudinally spaced apart recesses 4 of arcuate configuration adapted to conform to milk bottles, while the lower partitions 3 have similarly disposed arcuate recesses 5 terminating at their bottoms in seats 6 on which the bottles rest. Transverse wire rod braces I extend across the crate through the upper and lower partition bars and are anchored at their opposite ends to the opposite walls of the crate.

These cross braces I extend through the thicker portions of the wooden partition bars and cooperate with said bars to divide the interior of the crate into compartments for the bottles, individually.

The bottom side slats I are made thicker than the superimposed slats and embody recesses and seats 8 adapted to cooperate with the seats 6 to assist in supporting the box and, in accordance with this invention, these thickened bottom slats are provided with a long bevel 9 extending from their upper edges down to substantially the plane of the seats 8, so as to form sloping surfaces which have two purposes. First, they preclude catch ing of the lower edges of the bottles when dropped into the lateral compartments and they serve to deflect ice into intimate contact with the bottles in order to assist in maintaining the milk at proper temperature. This slop-ing formation of the bottom slats forms part of this invention.

With the box made as thus far described, it will be noted that the upper partition deck, consisting of the wooden partition bars 2 and the transverse partition wires I, is wholly separate and independent from the lower partition deck which comprises the partition bars 3 and the lower cross wires 1, so that shocks or stresses placed upon the members of either the upper or the lower partition decks must be borne by them independently of one another. In accordance with the present invention, I tie these upper and lower partition members together in a simple and effective way and without unduly adding to the cost of the structure and I accomplish this by means of a plurality of struts shown at E6.

The struts l may conveniently be in the form of cylindrical wooden columns, such as may be conveniently bought as dowel rods. They are interposed between the upper and lower partition bars 2 and 3 by boring holes into the bottoms of the bars 2 and into the tops of the bars '3in such relation as to aline with one another, and inserting these struts in the course of manufacture in such a way that the struts will have a fairly tight fit. When the crate is fully assembled, the struts will bridge the gap between the upper and lower partition bars and have firm seats in both of them.

In a twelve compartment crate, I may conveniehtly use six struts, although a greater or lesser number may be employed, but their axes preferably occupy the same vertical plane as the axes of the cross wires I. Here the partition bars have maximum dimension and are thus stronger in this locality and better able to transmit stresses through struts so located.

If desired, the struts I!) may terminate short of the cross wires I, as shown in Figure 1, or they may be extended and apertured as shown in Figure 2, so that the cross wires 1 can be passed through the apertures in the struts.

In either case, it will be apparent that the struts tie together the upper and lower partition members in a manner to render them relatively rigid and produce an assembly well able to withstand shocks which would wreck an ordinary crate. For example, it will be apparent that if a crate is thrownby a careless driver in such a way that one of its corners will pass through the top of the crate shown in Figure 1 and strike upon one of the partition bars 2, the impact on such partition bar will be transmitted by the bar to the upper cross wires 1 and down through the struts ID to the lower partition bars 3 and from them to the lower cross wires 1, while both the upper and lower cross wires will transmit the impact to the lateral adjacent upper and lower partition members 2 and 3, so said impact will be borne, not merely by one upper partition bar as heretofore, but will be distributed through all of the other partition bars. and cross wires, which will serve to reinforce the partition bar which has initially received the impact and assist the same in withstanding the impact without breakage.

The incorporation of the struts in a box of the character described may be accomplished economically. They do not materially add to the cost and they are so light as not to appreciably add to the weight of the box. I have found as a matter of fact that by using struts in the manner described, I am able to appreciably decrease the cross sections of the partition bars, so that the aggregate weight is less than heretofore, yet the strength of the box is not lessened.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred, practical form, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower partition bars arranged one above the other, vertically alined holes in the upper and lower bars, and upright struts extending between the upper and lower bars and extending into said holes.

2. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower partition bars provided with vertically alined seats, and vertical struts extending between the upper and lower partition bars and engaging with said seats.

3. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower wooden partition bars having holes in the under sides of the u per bars and vertically alined holes in the upper sides of the lower bars, and upright struts extending between the upper and lower bars with the upper ends of the struts seated in the holes in the upper bars and the lower ends of the struts seated in the holes in the lower bars.

4. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower wooden partition bars arranged one above the other with vertically alined holes in both the upper and lower bars, and upright struts extending between the upper and lower bars and into the alined holes of both of them.

5. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower wooden partition bars arranged one above the other with vertically alined holes in both the upper and lower bars, upright struts extending between the upper and lower bars and into the alined holes of both of them, and transverse partition rods extending through the upper and lower wooden partition bars and through the struts which extend into the holes of said bars.

6. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower partition bars having recesses in their opposite sides to conform with and partially embrace bottles positioned in the crate, transverse rods extending through said upper and lower partition bars, said upper and lower partition bars having therein vertically alined holes through which the partition rods diametrically extend, and upright struts extending between the upper and lower partition bars and into the holes thereof and aper'tured for the passage of said rods.

7. A delivery crate comprising four Walls forming a rectangular frame, upper and lower wooden partition bar's extending longitudinally across the interior of said frame, transverse partition rods extending transversely across the interior of said frame and passing through the partition bars, vertically alined holes in the upper and lower partition bars, the axes of which holes occupy the same vertical planes as the partition rods, and struts extending between the upper and lower partition bars and into the holes therein.

8. A delivery crate comprising four walls forming a rectangular frame, upper and lower wooden partition bars extending longitudinally across the interior of said frame, transverse partition rods extending transversely across the interior of said frame and passing through the partition bars, vertically alined holes in the upper and lower partition bars, the axes of which holes occupy the same vertical planes as the partition rods, and upright struts extending between the upper and lower partition bars and into the holes therein, said struts being apertured for the passage of the partition rods therethrough.

9. A delivery crate comprising upper and lower partition bars provided with vertically alined holes, and an upright strut extending between said bars with its opposite ends seated in said holes.

10. A delivery crate comprising walls com posed of superimposed slats with the bottom slat of at least one of said walls of greater thickness than the next superimposed slat, longitudinally spaced apart arcuate recesses in the inner face of said bottom slat terminating short of the lower edge of said slat in substantially flat seats on which bottles are adapted to rest and the inner face of said slat being beveled, between the recesses, from substantially the elevation of said seats in an upward direction to the upper edge of the slat to render the thickness of the upper edge of the slat substantially the same as the thickness of the next superimposed slat.

JOHN A. HOPWOOD. 

